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Magazine Pif-e No; 224,366.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM YV. WETMORE ANI) THOMAS G, BENNETT, OF iFLW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNORS vTO THE VINCHESTER REIEA'IING ARMS COMPANY, or SAME PLAGE.

MAGAZINE FIRE-ARM.

l "SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 224,366, dated February 10, 1880; I Application tiled December 2T, 1879.

To all whom Iit may concern: l

Be it known that we, VILLIAM W. WET nom; and THOMAS G. ,ENNETT, both of New H'a'vcn, in the county of New Haven and State dctent oi' the magazine from being operated 5 I, as shown in Fig. 1.

and, second, in an eccentric arranged to operate upon the heel ot' the triggerin such a manner as to lock both the trigger and the breechbolt fast, all as hereinafter described.

Figure l is a side elevation, partly in section, of the breech mechanism 'ot' a Hotchkiss gun with our improvements applied thereto. Fig. 2 is an lend view of a partdetached; and Fig.l 3 is a transverse vertical section on the line x of Fig. 1, showing the bolt locked fast by the front arm ofthe trigger.

In the accompanying drawings, Aindicates the receiver or shoe; B, the breech-bolt, and E the channel through which the cartridges pass from theinagaz'ine in rear to the chamber in i'ront, l) being the detent, which, as shown, is operated by the trigger to release a cartridge each time the gun is tired, as more fully described in Patent No. 206,202, and dated July 23, 1878. l

As shown in Fig. 1, the trigger T at its upper s ide has an arm, b, which extends forward under the breechbolt B, and on which is the scar or locking-point a, that engages with the hammer or tiring-bolt 1I, the same as' in the patent referred to 5 but in this case we extend this arm backward from the pivot-pin cot' the trigger, so as to form arear projection or heel,

The result of this arthe reargnd of the part H over the projection I the trigger is prevented from being moved on its pivot, the projection I resting against cart-ridge pass from the maga-zine into thepas# 4sage E under the bolt before the proper timei It will be seen thatit thebolt be drawn ba'clt the under sideof part H, and thus preventing to any point after it has been moved aquarter otf anuinchgmoreror less, the .trigger will be thus locked, and that consequently the detent cannot be accidentally moved by pulling on the trigger when the breech is opened, whether the breech-bolt be part way or all the way back. In addition to this, we also make the trigger, with its arms b and I, lock the-bolt 'fast when the breech is closed and locked, so that the bolt cannotbe turned to unlock it nor the trigger pulled until released, the objeetot' this being to render the arm more safe whenridin g, or when not desired for immediate use. This we accomplish by means of a knob, U, which, as shown in Fig. 1, is mounted loosely on the rear end of the tiring-bolt H, so as to tnrn thereon. A spiral spring, t, is arranged to bear at its front end 'against an internal shoulder at the front portion of said knob, and

o, by which the knob is fastened to the tiring bolt, sshown in Fig. l, the knob being arrange? to have a little end plaj)r as well as a rotar) motion.

Fig. 2 represents a frontend View of this knob detached, and, as there shown, it has a notch, h, cut in its under side, ot such asize as to permit the heel I of the trigger to play freely therein when the knob is' turned, so as to bring saidnotch directly over the heel I, and which is its proper position when itis desired to operate thegun. This notch or groove h is cut of such a depth as to permit the heel I to rise far enough to permit the trigger to move the requisite distance to release the tiring-bolt H and operate the detent D, as is required in tiring the arm. i

8o at its rear end against the head of the screw- As shown in Fig. 2, there is a circular recess, l, cut laterallyT from the notch h, into which a rearwardly-projecting lip on the heel I engages, as shown in Fig. I, when the knob is turned to lock the bolt and trigger. This recess l and its inner Wall, n, as shown in Fig. 2, are made eccentric, so that when the knob G .is Aturned to the right this4 eccentric portion will act on the heel I to press it down, thereby throwing up the arm b, which is thus made to restrmly in a notch, 1^,cut in the side of bolt' B, asl shown in Figs. l and 3, the latter showing the bolt With its handle J turned to the right, as it is when the breech is closed and locked.

In order to hold the knob C in these two different positions--one for Iiring the arm and the other for locking the trigger and bolt-it has in its front face two small holes, c c, as shown in Fig. 2, arranged to engage with a pin, o, which projects from the rear shoulder of the tiriug-bolt,as shown in Fig. l.

By pulling' back on the knob C it is at once disengaged from the pino, whenitcan be turned to its other position, and as soon as released from the grasp the spring /i-Will force it forward, causing the other hole c to engage with the pin o, and thus lock the knob, so as to prevent it from being accidentally turned` 1t is obvious that instead ofthe holes @and pin o any other form of recesses and projections may be used to hold the knob from being turned, and also that the lateral recess or groove'l and the corresponding` lip on the heel I may be omitted without a'ecting the operation of the parts, as all that is requisite is that the knob U shall have an eccentric:- cream surface arranged to bear upon the heel -I and depress it sufficiently to throw the arm b up intothe notch r in the bolt B and hold it there. So, too, it is obvious thatrthe part 0,1

instead of being made in the form of 'a kn'ob; may be made in the form of a hook or thumb- I piece, or in any forni desired, so long as it is made to operate on the heel I and depress it, as described; and bymaking the heel I correspondingly lower the groove h may be dispenscd with, these being modifications Which any mechanic skilled in the art can readily make, if desired.

Having thus described our invention,- what Awe claim is i 1. In combination with the sliding breech bolt B, the trigger T, provided with a rear projection', I, arranged to bear against the under side of the firing-bolt H or breech-bolt B as thelatter is drawn back, whereby the trigger is prevented frornoperating the detent of the magazineexcept when the breech is closed, or nearlyr so, as set forth.

2. In combination with the sliding breechbolt provided with a notch, r, the trigger T, provided with a front arm, b, and a heel or 'rear projection, I, and the knob G, lorequivalent device, provided with an eccentric or cam projection arranged to operate upon the arms of the trigger, substantially as described, whereby both the trigger and the breech-bolt can be locked fast whenever desired.

, 3. In combination with thetrigger provided with the rear projection, I, the tiring-bolt H,

sor

and the sliding and rotating knob C, or equivaleut device, provided With a spring, c', andthe interlocking holes c and pin o, or equiva lent means for locking the knob C in position, said devices being constructed and arranged to operate substantially as described. l

WILLIAM W. WETMORE. THOMAS G. BENNETT.

Witnesses:- y

W. W. WINcHEsTER, 4 DANIEL H. VEADER. 

